Business day 10 January 2022 - After widespread concern that Covid-19 vaccines have been messing up menstrual cycles, a new study has found that periods are slightly and temporarily delayed by the inoculations.
Women who had been vaccinated, on average, experienced just under a day’s increase to their usual menstrual pattern, according to US-government funded research published in the Obstetrics & Gynecology medical journal.
Health department gears up for booster shot bustle
Business Day 09 January 2022 - The health department is bracing for an influx of people wanting to get Covid-19 booster shots as it looks to combine vaccine services with mainstream health-care centres such as clinics and hospitals, after an almost lockdown-free festive holiday.
The National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) in 2021 decided the country would remain on adjusted lockdown level 1 throughout the festive season, citing modest hospitalisations as the country passed the peak of the fourth wave that was driven by the quicker spreading omicron variant. Johnson & Johnson (J&J) booster vaccinations were rolled out on Christmas Eve to anyone who had received their last dose at least two months prior, while Pfizer boosters were made available from December 28. The uptake of booster shots has been slow, at 11,895 booster jabs administered since the programme began, according to the SA coronavirus dashboard. But as the year picks up after the holidays, the department expects numbers to soar.
Vaccine sceptics slammed across Europe as Omicron spreads
Business day 09 January 2022 - Europe’s leaders are trying to make life difficult for those refusing a vaccine and brushing aside concerns about civic freedoms From Boris Johnson to Emmanuel Macron, Europe’s leaders are increasingly going after anti-vaxxers as the battle against the fast-spreading Omicron variant deepens the region’s pandemic fatigue.
Amid a seemingly unstoppable surge in infections, officials are focusing restrictions on unvaccinated people rather than resorting to widespread clampdowns. The strong overall uptake in inoculations has emboldened leaders to go more aggressively after holdouts, prodding them in various ways to roll up their sleeves. French President Macron took the rhetoric to a new level last week when he said his government’s strategy was to “piss off” those who have refused shots. In the UK, Johnson accused anti-vaxxers of spreading “nonsense”. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who supports making shots compulsory, has labelled the anti-vax movement “a tiny minority of reckless extremists”.
Time for using severe lockdowns for Covid-19 is over — take SA’s example
Business Day 06 January 2022 - Africa CDC director John Nkengasong has praised SA for adopting that approach when responding to the Omicron infection wave Africa’s top public health official said on Thursday that severe lockdowns were no longer the best way to contain Covid-19, praising SA for adopting that approach when responding to its latest infection wave driven by the Omicron variant.
“We are very encouraged with what we saw in SA during this period, where they look at the data in terms of severity [of infections,” John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), told a news conference. “The period where we are using severe lockdowns as a tool is over. We should actually be looking at how we use public health and social measures more carefully and in a balanced way as the vaccination increases.”
Presidential co-ordinating council recommends scrapping of curfew
Business Day 30 December 2021 - The presidential co-ordinating council meeting on Thursday recommended to cabinet to do away with some restrictions, but opted to keep the state of disaster, according to an insider SA could enter the new year under new Covid-19 regulations that will lift the midnight curfew and ease restrictions on gatherings.
The presidential co-ordinating council (PCC) meeting on Thursday recommended to cabinet to do away with some restrictions, but opted to keep the state of disaster despite a push against it by representatives from the Democratic Alliance. “The PCC agreed to scrap the curfew altogether and increase the number for gatherings from 750 people indoors — the number for outdoor gatherings will remain at 2,000 but the country will remain under the national state of disaster,” an insider who attended the meeting said.
Only 16% of Omicron-infected end up in hospital after J&J booster
Business Day 30 December 2021 - Greatly reduced protection against new variant offset by much fewer cases of severe illness A booster dose of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine was 84% effective at preventing hospitalisation in SA health-care workers who became infected as the Omicron variant spread, researchers said on Thursday.
The real-world study, which has not been peer-reviewed, was based on a second dose of the J&J vaccine administered to 69,092 health-care workers between November 15 and December 20. The new SA study of the J&J shot showed that the vaccine's effectiveness at preventing hospitalisation rose from 63% shortly after a booster was administered to 84% 14 days later. Effectiveness reached 85% at one to two months post-boost.
SA recalls revised rules on Covid-19 isolation and quarantine
Business Day 29 December 2021 - SA Medical Association says the revision could have been forced on the department by political pressure
The different notices emanating from the health department regarding isolation, contact tracing and quarantining of people who came into contact with Covid-19-positive people were very confusing for the public, SA Medical Association (Sama) chairperson Angelique Coetzee said. She said her association believed that “this (the withdrawal by the national health department Tuesday of a notice it issued last week) is political pressure, most probably from other departments that are putting pressure on the national department. This is our view.” She did not say which departments were putting pressure on the health department.
Experts highlight risks of Covid-19 spread when using fans in enclosed spaces
Business Day 29 December 2021 - WHO, NICD advise opening a window when a fan is in use
As summer continues to grip SA health experts have highlighted the risk of Covid-19 spreading when using a fan in enclosed spaces. “Using a fan in an enclosed space can increase the spread of the virus that causes Covid-19. This is why it is important to open windows and doors whenever using a fan to replace indoor air without outdoor air,” the WHO said. The organisation said if you want to use a pedestal fan, minimise as much as possible how much air blows from one person to another.
Health minister allows full single exit price hike for medicines
Business Day 28 December 2021 - Gazetted increase in line with that proposed by pharmaceutical industry body
Health minister Joe Phaahla has gazetted the regulated maximum increase of 3.5% for the single exit price for 2022 for medicines and scheduled substances supplied by the private sector. The single exit price is the price of medicines at the factory gate and includes a logistics fee to cover the cost of transporting the goods to retail outlets. The dispensing fees that pharmacies and doctors can charge are regulated separately.
Omicron provides some immunity against Delta, SA study finds
Business Day 28 December 2021 - UKZN institute finds the Omicron-infected may develop enhanced neutralising immunity to Delta, especially after vaccination A study by a KwaZulu-Natal-based research institute has found that people who have been infected by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus have more immunity against the Delta variant than those who have not been infected. This was especially the case with those who had been vaccinated and then infected with Omicron.
Health department sticks to its guns backing J&J vaccine
Business Day 24 December 2021 - Officials undeterred by US’s preference for other brands The department of health reaffirmed its safe-use assessment of Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) single-dose vaccine as it kicked off its rollout of Covid-19 boosters on Friday. The department threw its weight behind J&J’s product just days after the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention expressed a “clinical preference” for other brands. It said in a statement the preliminary short-term analysis of the government-led Sisonke trials indicated that two doses of J&J have been found to be protective against hospital admissions with vaccine efficacy data for hospital admissions at least equivalent to other vaccines.
J&J booster vaccinations available from December 24
Business Day 24 December 2021 - Pfizer gets the go-ahead for boosters from December 28 The department of health will start administering Johnson & Johnson (J&J) booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines on Friday and Pfizer boosters a week later. The announcement comes after the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine as a booster for the primary Pfizer two-dose series. The approval is for vaccination of people six months after the administration of the second dose, or in the case of immunocompromised people who received an additional primary dose, after that third dose. Sahpra has also approved the use of the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) vaccine for boosters of the single-dose primary J&J schedule at least two months after primary vaccination.
Pathology labs agree to slash Covid-19 rapid antigen test prices
Business Day 23 December 2021 - PathCare, Lancet and Ampath reach agreement with Competition Commission to cut prices to R150 maximum per test SA’s three largest private pathology labs — PathCare, Lancet and Ampath — have agreed to immediately cut their prices for Covid-19 rapid antigen tests to no more than R150 including VAT after reaching an agreement with the Competition Commission. The price reduction will remain in effect for two years from the date of confirmation of the consent agreements as ordered by the Competition Tribunal and comes shortly after a similar reduction in prices for Covid-19 PCR tests. The rapid antigen test price cut was announced in a statement by the Competition Commission on Thursday and comes less than two weeks since the authority announced that the same three laboratories had agreed to reduce their prices for Covid-19 PCR tests to no more than R500 including VAT, from about R850 per test previously.
Pfizer’s Covid-19 pill approved for emergency
Business Day 23 December 2021 - Paxlovid is the first at-home therapy for Covid-19 to win clearance from the Food and Drug Administration Pfizer’s Covid-19 pill gained clearance for emergency use in the US, delivering a more convenient treatment option for at-risk patients at a critical point in the pandemic. The drug, called Paxlovid, is the first at-home therapy for Covid-19 to win clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is expected to become a potent weapon in battling the virus once production gears up, giving people at high risk of severe complications from the disease a way to avoid winding up in the hospital.
UK cuts Covid-19 self-isolation to seven days
Business Day 22 December 2021 - Move aims to ‘reduce disruption from coronavirus to people’s everyday lives’ amid staff shortages in hospitals, various industries The British government said that from Wednesday it was reducing the Covid-19 self-isolation period to seven days from 10 days for people in England who get a negative result on a lateral flow test two days in a row. With the Omicron variant spreading rapidly in Britain and record levels of cases over the past week, many industries are struggling with staff shortages, including hospitals which have warned of the risk of an impact on patient safety.
Booster shots greatly raise protection against Omicron in elderly, researchers say
Business Day 22 December 2021 - Third dose of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine restored defence to 54.6% in inoculated people aged 60 or more compared with those with two doses
Getting a third dose of either Pfizer-BioNTech’s or Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine offers a “significant increase” in protection against the Omicron variant in elderly people, according to a Danish study published on Wednesday. The study, which is not yet peer-reviewed, investigated the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines that use so-called mRNA technology against the Delta variant and the new, more infectious Omicron variant. “Our study contributes to emerging evidence that BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) or mRNA-1273 (Moderna) primary vaccine protection against Omicron decreases quickly over time, with booster vaccination offering a significant increase in protection,” the authors wrote in the study.
Scores of unvaccinated South Africans believe Covid-19 shots are unsafe
Business Day 22 December 2021 - A quarter of citizens who have not received shots refuse to do so because they believe it will harm them, researchers say A quarter of South Africans who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 say they refuse to get a shot because they believe it will harm or kill them, according to a study by the University of Cape Town. SA has fully inoculated just more than 44% of its adult population over a seven-month period even as the Omicron variant has fuelled record case numbers across the country since November. The survey was done to help guide those tackling SA’s vaccine-hesitancy problem and inform the debate over whether to make shots obligatory for various public places, said the researchers, led by Brendan Maughan-Brown.
SA’s Covid-19 cases drop in line with testing numbers
Business Day 21 December 2021 - Biggest share of 8,515 new cases recorded in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday, a 44% decrease from a day earlier and the lowest number of daily infections since December 6 SA’s recorded daily coronavirus cases almost halved amid a fourth wave of infections fuelled by the Omicron variant. The country registered 8,515 new infections in the past 24 hours, data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases showed on Monday. That’s a 44% drop from a day earlier and the lowest number of daily infections since December 6. However, the cases were recorded with 29.9% of Covid-19 tests analysed coming back positive, about in line with the 30.7% figure from a day earlier, the institute said. That suggests the number of tests has influenced the plunging case numbers rather than any improvement in the pandemic.
FDA approves first injectable treatment to prevent HIV infection
Business Day 21 December 2021 - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an injectable form of GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) cabotegravir drug that is given every two months to prevent an HIV infection The injection — Apretude — to prevent the virus that causes Aids is aimed as an alternative to daily pills and has been approved for use in at-risk adults and adolescents. Its first two doses are administered one month apart and then the injection is given every two months thereafter.
Covid-19 hospital cases up 70% in past week‚ but actual numbers very low
Business Day 17 December 2021 - Covid-19 hospitalisations have risen 70% in the past week in SA. However‚ absolute numbers remain relatively low‚ and while the number of infections is rising quickly in every province‚ in Gauteng they are coming down. This is according to health minister Joe Phaahla‚ who hosted a briefing on Friday morning. He said a week ago‚ Gauteng accounted for around 80% of all new infections but the number is now at 25%. All provinces are technically in the fourth wave of infections‚ except for the Northern Cape‚ which will hit the technical definition soon.
SA to donate two-million J&J Covid-19 shots to Africa
Business Day 17 December 2021 - The shots will be made available over the next year through a medical supplies platform set up by the African Union SA said on Friday it would donate about two-million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine to other African countries. The shots will be made available over the next year through a medical supplies platform set up by the African Union (AU). “This donation embodies SA’s solidarity with our brothers and sisters on the continent with whom we are united in fighting an unprecedented threat to public health and economic prosperity,” the SA government said in a joint statement with an AU vaccine task team.
SA among countries to host trials of Moderna’s Covid vaccine for HIV patients
Business Day 15 December 2021 - Study in eight African countries will determine the efficacy of the shots in HIV patients and its ability to combat the Omicron variant Moderna will start a trial of its Covid-19 vaccine across eight African countries to determine its efficacy in people who are HIV positive. The study, which will include about 14,000 volunteers, will serve a dual purpose by also evaluating its effectiveness against the Omicron coronavirus variant, according to a joint statement from the Covid-19 Prevention Network and the SA Medical Research Council.
Vaccination numbers surge more than half in Gauteng
Business Day 01 December 2021 - Health department attributes surge in Covid immunisation to roll out of booster shots for health-care workers and decline in vaccine hesitancy as Omicron variant takes hold The daily vaccination rate in SA rose almost 60% on Tuesday, but this is still well below the government’s target of 250,000 shots a day. The increase comes as the Omicron variant of Covid takes hold in SA and follows the threat of further mandatory vaccination policies at businesses and educational institutions. According to data on the department’s Covid-19 portal, 175,395 people were vaccinated in the 24 hours to 5pm on Tuesday, up from the previous daily average of about 110,000 — an increase of 59.5%. Gauteng recorded the biggest number of shots administered, 54,422, followed by the Western Cape (22,856), Eastern Cape (20,249), KwaZulu-Natal (19,551) and Limpopo at (18,317).
Discovery mandatory vaccination policy drives surge in staff jab rate
Business Day 30 November 2021 - Adrian Gore says Discovery is working to persuade staff who have objected to vaccination to change their minds, but accepts some might ultimately leave The Covid-19 vaccination rate among Discovery’s SA employees has risen from barely a fifth to 94% in the three months since it announced plans to make jabs compulsory from January 1, CEO Adrian Gore announced on Tuesday. Health and life insurer Discovery was one of the first JSE-listed companies to introduce a mandatory vaccination policy and was swiftly followed by a growing number of firms that now include private hospital groups Mediclinic and Life Healthcare, and insurers Sanlam and Old Mutual. Several universities have followed suit, including Wits, the University of Cape Town, the University of the Western Cape and the University of the Free State, but the government has yet to require its employees to get immunised.
Vaccine passports may start in early 2022
Business Day 01 December 2021 - Passport system is expected to restrict access to public services and places of employment and will not involve forced vaccination Unvaccinated South Africans could face restrictions on being able to access public services and places of employment as soon as the beginning of 2022 after the discovery of a new variant and SA’s exclusion from international travel brought further urgency to debates about mandatory vaccination. Talks between the government, business and labour on the introduction of a form of Covid-19 vaccine passport system are at an advanced stage. A passport system would restrict access to certain events and would not involve people being forced to take jabs against their will. The word "mandate" implies compulsion, but in the SA context, it is roughly equivalent to a passport system.
Covid-19 surge puts German hospitals in ‘dangerous situation’
Business Day 01 December 2021 - ‘We have to protect our staff and prevent our clinics from collapsing under the pressure,’ says head of intensive-care medicine lobby Germany urgently needs stricter measures to check a surge in Covid-19 infections and protect hospitals from a “particularly dangerous situation”, according to the head of the country’s DIVI intensive-care medicine lobby. ICUs have had to find beds for about 1,400 additional coronavirus patients in the past week, said DIVI president Gernot Marx. The total, now about 4,600, will reach 6,000 by Christmas, exceeding the peak during the second wave of the pandemic last winter, he predicted. Germany is moving closer to making Covid-19 shots compulsory, with Olaf Scholz, the incoming chancellor, throwing his support behind the initiative.
Aspen agrees terms with Johnson & Johnson for own brand of Covid-19 vaccine
Business Day 01 December 2021 - Deal could lead to further agreement for manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients used in the jab, bolstering supply security in Africa Aspen Pharmacare , SA’s biggest pharmaceutical manufacturer, has agreed terms for a deal with Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer Johnson & Johnson to produce its own branded version to sell in Africa, it announced on Tuesday. The agreement gives Aspen greater control over which customers to supply and paves the way for a further licensing deal for manufacturing the active pharmaceutical ingredients used in the jab, bolstering Africa’s security of supply. The new agreement means Aspen can sell the vaccines it bottles, branded Aspenovax, to AU members and multinational organisations such as the international vaccine-sharing vehicle Covax.
Greece to fine unvaccinated people older than 60
Business Day 01 December 2021 - People refusing to get vaccinated will have to pay a fine of €100 for each month they don’t get the shots Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced mandatory Covid-19 vaccination for all Greeks older than 60 at a cabinet meeting in Athens on Tuesday, in an effort to tackle the new Omicron variation threat as the festive season approaches. Those who refuse to get vaccinated will have to pay a fine of €100 for each month they don’t get jabbed, starting on January 16, according to Mitsotakis. The funds collected will be given to Greek hospitals fighting the pandemic. “It is not a punishment,” Mitsotakis said. “I would say it is a health fee.”
How SA scientists came to identify Omicron variant
Business Day 30 November 2021 - Laboratories testing for Covid-19 weren’t able to detect the virus’s S-gene, which creates the spike protein that enables the pathogen to enter human cells and spread.
Sequencing by virologists found it had mutated Around the same time, doctors in the region saw a sudden flood of patients with fatigue and headaches. The new cases appeared after weeks of calm that ensued after a Delta variant-driven third coronavirus wave, which had ripped through Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria in July. The developments heralded the onset of a wave of infections with the Omicron variant in the country. It swiftly became the dominant strain and has driven a new surge in cases. The November 25 announcement of its discovery triggered global panic and a market meltdown, with countries including the UK and the US imposing flight bans to and from SA. By Tuesday, the mutation had been found in at least 15 countries. The anomalies in samples were first detected by scientists at the privately owned Lancet Laboratories, who sounded the alarm, according to Glenda Gray, the president of the SA Medical Research Council. “They didn’t know what was wrong so they alerted the virologists, who began to sequence the samples,” she said in an interview.
Omicron was found in Netherlands before SA flights landed
Business Day 30 November 2021 - ‘We have found the Omicron coronavirus variant in two test samples that were taken on November 19 and 23,’ the Dutch public health institute said
The Covid-19 Omicron variant was detected in the Netherlands before two flights arrived from SA last week carrying the virus, Dutch health officials said on Tuesday. At least 14 people on flights from Johannesburg and Cape Town arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on November 26 carrying the new variant, the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said. The discovery of Omicron has sparked worries around the world that it could resist vaccinations and prolong the nearly two-year-old Covid-19 pandemic.
BioNTech working to adapt its Covid-19 vaccine for Omicron variant
Business Day 29 November 2021 - Moderna has begun a similar process of evaluation and development, should a new shot be necessary
BioNTech is working to adapt its Covid-19 vaccine to address the Omicron variant and expects to have a new version ready within 100 days if necessary. The company has started development to move as quickly as possible, BioNTech said in a statement. The first steps of developing a new vaccine overlap with the research necessary to evaluate whether a new shot will be needed — a process that began last Thursday as soon as news of the new variant began to spread around the world.